Removable floor covering and method



Patented Feb. 8, 1944 REMOVABLE FLO MET OR COVERING AND HOD John J. Bradley, Jr., Dedham, Mass, assignor to Bird & Son, inc., East Walpole, Mass, 2. corpo ration of Massachusetts No Drawing. Application February 1, 1940,. Serial No. 316,854

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a removable floor covering of the hard-surfaced flexible type, and method of making the same.

The invention'principally concerns a floor covering having a felt base saturated with a Suitable hydrocarbon semi-solid bituminous, or equivalent, filling material and having an ornamental wearing surface of paint, ornamented paper, linoleum, or other plastic mixture applied to the base to improve its ornamental appearance and wear directly cemented thereto, and to such problem the present invention is directed. Current practice in the use of felt base floor coverings, including yardage goods, and also rugs, commonly involves the cementing, as by linoleum paste, or other similariiquid adhesives, of the floor covering to wooden or other floors. This is usually done directly to the floor instead of employing a layer of lining felt, since the felt base itself functions more or less as a fining felt, and further, because denting of such a floor covering is minimized if it be adhered directly to the floor rather than to an intervening previously laid layer of lining felt, which also involves additional expense because of the added material and the extra cementing involved. Such felt base floor coverings, though entirely satisfactory from the standpoint of abrasion and wear resistance, have a very low resistance to tearing so that, when a floor covering is worn out, it is extremely diflicult to pick up or remove the floor covering so that a fresh new one may be placed on the floor.

The present invention involves the provision of a readily removable floor covering including a pigmented or colored backing coating which provides a hard, smooth, flexible, cohesive surface .layer that is applied to resist the base saturant and abrasion due to handling and use, and to effectively seal the same in the felt so that the floor covering may be used, if desired. without cementing the same to the floor. More importantly, however, the backing coating provides a floor covering from which the flexiblebackin coating which, because of its weak adhesion to the asphalt-saturated felt base, but fairly strong cohesion, will cleave and separate from the asphalt-saturated felt base in the plane of contact .01 interface between the backing coating and the felt base. Thus, the floor covering with its asphalt saturated feV ha may be lifted by stripping or peeling the felt base from the backing coating by an upward pull normal to the floor, leaving the relatively thin backing coating on the floor with the cement to which it strongly adheres. The cement, if desired, since it is watersoluble, may be easily removed by simply washing the floor clean with warm water.

According to the present commercial practice, felt base floor coverings of the type described, are provided with a felt base saturated with asphalt which binds the fibres together, giving the felt base strength and adapting it to resist moisture. The next operation, following a suitable intervalfor the cooling of the felt, is the application of a suitable ornamental wearing or tread surface which may be any one of the ones above referred to. At some stage during the manufacture of the floor covering, it is provided with a pigmented backing coating to give a hard, smooth, colored surface, as required, for protection of and obscuring the asphalt-saturated felt. Such coatings have commonly been a linseed or other drying oil paint which will not cleave or readily separate from the felt. Heretofore, however, such floor coverings have been made which were removable. because of a relatively brittle- (and cohesively weak) montan wax coatin as described in the patent to Charles S. Bird, No. 1,131,317, of March 9, 1915. In the commercial practice of the invention of said Bird patent, the montan wax has been lightly pigmented in order to improve the appearance of the backing coating;

In use, such a floor covering, when cemented to v the floor, was readily removable since the wax tended to cleave from the asphalt-saturated felt or from the cement, or both. The application of the montan wax coating, however, required that it be melted at a temperature of about 275 F., and the wax itself has become quite expensive, particularly in view of war conditions. Moreover, it was not suificiently flexible, particularly, in

cold weather, and could not readily be handled or laid at temperatures much less than ordinary room temperatures, without flaking off, cracking, or breaking. The present invention is a marked improvement on the said Bird patent in many respects, as will hereinafter appear, principally because the backing coating is much more flexible, more attractive, and much cheaper.

In the present preferred practice of the manufacture of floor coverings of this invention, the asphalt-saturated felt base has applied to the under surface thereof a coating characterized by a drying oil paint which, however, includes a small amount of high molecular weight fatty acid in a certain combination with wax, as hereinafter morefully described, the paint being appaint backing coatings heretofore employed.

In the preparation of the backing coating preferably employed herein, the vehicle is made from casein or soyabean protein, for example, dispersed by the usual methods in water made alkaline with sodium or ammonium hydroxide, or other agents, which hydrolyze to produce alkaline solutions. tended wit drying oils (preferably heat bodied or blown high viscosity) such as linseed, China-wood, th, etc., to increase flexibility and resistance to water. When drying oils are used an emulsion of oil, as the dispersed phase, is formed by adding the oil to the casein solution. which acts as an emulsifying .and stabilizing agent, by mechanical agitation,- homogenization, or other known methods.

A separate and second emulsion of higher melting point wax such as montan, camauba, can-t delilla or beeswax, and a higher fatty acid such as stearic, oleic, pahnitic or myristic is then prepared. This may be accomplished by melting the wax and fatty acid together, adding water made alkaline with ammonia or sodium hydroxide, and agitating until a fine dispersion is obtained. v It is necessary to employ only a small amount of the modifying agents, wax and stearic acid, to provide the feature of removability. The two emulsions are then mixed and a paint prepared by adding suitable pigments, mixing, grinding, or

both, as required.

Tables of proportions of the above preferred ingredients are as follows:

This casein solution may be exrated or partially unsaturated nature, such as stearlc or-oleic acids, have a definite tendency to wet asphalt which is evidenced by its immediate penetration and softening action. A paint such as the one described when made-from stearic acid alone is removable for only a short period of 881118, after which the acid is probably absorbed in the asphalt-saturated base. It is necessary, then, to provide a material which will hold the fatty acid in contact with the asphalt base and yet prevent its absorption. Waxes of high melting point, above that of the baking teme perautre (150 F. or thereabouts) of ordinary paint-coated or drying-oil-bearing felt vbase goods, to which it is subsequently submitted during process, accomplish this desired effect. For this reason waxes. whose melting points range between 156 to 196 .F. are satisfactory; lower melting point waxes are satisfactory if the floor coveringis to'be air dried 'or' subjected to only a short period of baking following the application of the backing coating, providing the melting point of the wax exceeds the baking tempera time. This selective wetting action maintains a s igh y softened and sticky condition of the asphalt at the boundary plane of the coating film with the asphalt-saturated base. Further evidence ofthis selective wetting is indicated by the Emulsion A Casein Water 385 Ammonia 27 Oil (or a oil-10% resin mixture) Emulsion B Wax (montan) 11.75 Fatty acid (stearic) 1.18 Water 58.48- Ammonia Y Mix Emulsions A and B, then add:

Lithopone 110 Clay or slate dust 445 Water 20-100 (All parts by weight).

covering be not cemented .to the floor, and at the same time, when cemented, to be readily removable as herein described.

Though the mechanism of cleavage of the drying oil bearing film from the asphalt-saturated felt is not fully understood, the explanation is believed to be as follows: A fatty acid of satufact that areadily removable backing coating applied over asphalt-saturated base is not removable when applied on wood, paper, or other paints. It has also been found that if a waxfatty acid combination is first combined with the drying oil its effect is completely lost since it is nolonger in a free stage to act by itself.

The choice of certain pigments which apparently cannot be selected by class or type, may again conform to the theory of migration and selective wetting. Pigments such as calcium carbonates are easily wetted-by the fatty acid so that it no longer remains free and its efiect'on asphalt reduced or eliminated. Clays or slates on the other/hand, are not readily wetted and the acid is free to wet the asphalt. Because of the probable migration of the acid-wax toward the asphalt, the structure, drying, and physicalqualities of the backing coating are unaifected.

From what has just been said it will be seen that the selection of pigments is of some importance in that 'no substantial amount of calcium carbonates or the like should be employed, for if they are employed, it is atthe expense of the cleavage feature, depending, of course, on the amount of such pigments employed. For best results, then, the pigment should be confined to pigments other than carbonates.

Having described my-invention, what I wish to claim and secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hard-surfaced flexible removable floor covering adapted to be cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, and comprising a fibrous base saturated with bituminous material, an ornamental tread layer on one side of said fibrous base, and a flexible resilient coherent backing coating on the opposite side of said base consisting principally of pigment and a drying oil binder and including wax having a melting point in excess of F. andsupporting surface by linoleum paste or the like,v

and comprising a fibrous base saturated with bituminous material, an ornamental tread layer on one side of said fibrous base, and a flexible resilient coherent backing coating on the opposite side of said base consisting principally of pigment and a drying oil binder and including montan wax and a higher fatty acid, said backing coating characterized by a low-strength bond to its bituminous saturated fibrous base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing coating is weakly adherent to said base and strippable therefrom at the interface.

3. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted tobe cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, whichfconsists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layenapplying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a drying oil and an emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including wax and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength bond to its asphalt saturated with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a drying oil and felt base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing layer is weakly adherent. to said base.

4. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or. the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a dryingoil and "an emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including wax having a melting point in excess of 150 F. and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength bond to its asphalt saturated felt base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing layer is weakly adherent to said base.

5. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be ccmented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a drying oil and casein emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including wax and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength bond to its asphalt saturated felt base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing layer is weakly adherent to said base.

6. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be ccmented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum pasteor the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side casein emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including wax having a melting point in excess of F. and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength bond to its asphalt saturated felt base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backinglayer is weakly adherent to said base.

'I. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an'aqueous alkaline emulsion including a drying oil and an emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including montan wax and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength bond to its asphalt saturated felt'base and a relatively high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing layer is weakly adherent to said base.

8. The process ,of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixtureof an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a drying oil and an. emulsifying agent, and an aqueous alkaline emulsion including wax and higher fatty acid and a relatively large amount of pigment substantially non-wettable by said higher fatty acid, and in drying said mixture following the application thereof to form a coherent flexible layer providing a low-strength'bond to its asphalt saturated felt base and. a relatively high-strength bondto hardened linoleum paste or the like whereby said backing layer is weakly adherent to said base.

9. The process of making a flexible hard-surfaced removable floor covering adapted to be cemented to an underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, which consists in providing an asphalt-saturated felt base on one side with an ornamental tread layer, applying to the opposite side of said base a mixture of an aqueous alkaline emulsion including a' drying oil,

resin, and casein emulsifying agent, and an aquebituminous material, an ornamental tread layer on one side of said fibrous base, and a flexible resilient coherent backing coating on the opposite side of said .base consisting principallyot pigment and a drying oil and resinlbinder andincluding wax having a melting point in excess of 150 F. and a higher fatty acid, said backing coating characterized by a low-strength bond to its bituminous saturated fibrous base and a relatlvely high-strength bond to hardened linoleum paste '0! the like whereby said backing coating is weakly adherent to said base and strippable therefrom at the interface.

11. A hard-surfaced flexible removable 'floor covering adapted to be cemented toan underlying supporting surface by linoleum paste or the like, and comprising a fibrous base saturated with bituminous material, an ornamental tread layer on one side of said fibrous base; and a-flexible resilient coherent backing coating on the opposite side of said-base consisting principally of pigment substantially non-wettable by a higher fatty acid and a drying oil binder, and including a wax and higher fatty acid, said backing coating characterized by a low-strength bond to its bituminous saturated fibrous base .and a relatively high-ttrengthbond to hardened linoleum paste or the likewhereby said backing coating is weakly adherent to said base and strippable therefrom at the interface.

JOHN J. BRADLEY, JR. 

